Watch It! House in the Big House, Jessica Lange in a Haunted House, Harry Potter, and The Ghost Writer

TV highlights week of October 3

The fall season is off and still running with more premieres on the networks and satellite channels as well as finales (Breaking Bad), films (Scorsese on George Harrison) and reality (Say Yes to the Dress), and spooky stuff like Harry Potter’s penultimate installment and Mysteries at the Museum, plus Raphael Saadiq—so don’t say there’s nothing on television. Catch the following:

Monday, October 3

House at 9 pm on Fox

Season eight premieres with House in the slammer noticing a fellow inmate’s strange symptoms.

Tuesday, October 4

Onion News Network at 10 pm on IFC

The most terrifying news is back for another season. An asteroid heads to earth and more amusing send-ups.

Prohibition at 8 pm on PBS

Ken Burns chooses great material for his docs, so if you get beyond the pedantic perspective, this is a fascinating, informative chronicle of a wild time in US history. Take away the juice and things get flapping in this third part, “A Nation of Hypocrites.” The second part aired last night.

The Travel Channel rolls out its new season:

Made in America at
8 pm - from Cadillac to Laz-Z-Boy, Sub Zero to Crayola.

Mysteries at the
Museum at 9 pm - weird repositories and cabinets of curiosities

Off Limits at 10 pm
- hidden and forbidden locations

Other premieres include Viking
Wilderness for Scandinavian animals on Animal Planet, Mad Fashion and Fashion
Hunters on Bravo and Chopped on
Food Network - all with self-explanatory titles. And Zooey Deschanel’s silly New Girl plays on Fox.

Wednesday, October 5

American Horror Story at 10 pm on FX

From the folks who gave us equally creepy show, Nip/Tuck, these eerie episodes star Dylan
McDermott as a shrink in a house haunted by demons not of his unconscious or are
they? Also features Jessica Lange.

Thursday October 6

George Harrison: Living in the Material World at 9 pm on HBO

Martin Scorsese delves into the life of musician George
Harrison, weaving together interviews, concert footage, home movies and photographs.
To be repeated several times this week. It premiered Wednesday night.

Vidal Sassoon:
The Movie at 7:30 pm on Showtime

Doc about British hairdresser whose distinctive sculpted
styles created a hair sensation.

Friday, October 7

The Ghost Writerat 8 pm on Showtime’s Showcase

Roman Polanski’s thriller about a former British PM who
uncovers secrets in a memoir that jeopardize his life. Stars Ewan McGregor and
Pierce Brosnan.

Top Secret Recipe at 9 pm on CMT

Wanna know the Kentucky Colonel’s herbs and spices? An
iconic American recipe is recreated by food hacker/author Todd Wilbur. A blind
taste test determines if he nailed it.

Say Yes to the Dress 9 pm on TLC

A favorite guilty pleasure for many closeted brides, the seventh
season premiere goes inside Kleinfeld Bridal, the famed Manhattan salon and beyond the wedding
jitters.

Roberta Cruger has written for Salon, The Believer, the LA Times magazine, and more. She was the founding media editor of Creem magazine and a member of MTV’s original programming team. Based in LA, she covers the green carpet for Treehugger and entertainment as US correspondent for the AFP’s RelaxNews.